How would you solve homelessness in America? What do you think is the leading cause of homelessness?

[BlackBeauty90]

A lot of people say a lack of affordable housing & job opportunities.
But here's a realistic question.
How can a recent immigrant from say E Asia who barely speaks English have a job at a hotel and an apartment (however small) if affordable housing and job opportunities did not exist?

A lot of people say poverty
But here's a realistic question.
How come people on the poverty line or even below poverty line can have houses and jobs? Yes they don't live a luxurious life by any means but... they are still not living on the street.

A lot of people say mental health issues
But here's a realistic question
How come people with mental health issues have houses & jobs? Even people who are bipolar, schizophrenic, etc. or mentally handicapped are capable of living by themselves.

People say drug abuse
The leading cause of homelessness is none of the above, it's drug abuse. Statistics have indicated that 65% to 70% of homeless Americans are drug addicts.

Drug abuse can actually cause severe mental health issues including schizophrenia, etc.
Drug abuse also causes criminal records making it hard to get a job or housing.

.

So knowing this, what can be done to handle homelessness.

[CheeseMonster]

Because ALL people in poverty aren't houseless doesn't mean poverty isn't a cause. Or unaffordable housing prices and difficulty getting a job. Especially combined, which they often are.

Your own cause, you said 70%. That leaves 30% non-addicts. Which is still a significant amount of homeless people. And there are also plenty of addicts who do have houses. But that doesn't mean you are wrong that addiction contributes to homelessness.

If we're talking about prevention, I think minimum wage should be enough to live on and companies should have a penalty for being understaffed very long. That would be incentive to hire more people at a proper wage instead of just hiring a few and constantly overworking them to "save money." If they can't find somebody qualified then they just have to train them oh well.

If we're talking about getting currently homeless people out of it, then I think having more programs like those for addiction recovery would help a lot. Many even have waiting lists because they're so full. And having things like public bathhouses like they do in other countries and public wardrobe like rent a suit or something at a library, to make it easier to clean up, would make it easier to get a job.

And again, making sure ALL jobs pay enough to afford decent housing. Even if you have kids. So you *can* just get a job at a hotel or something and afford to get off the streets pretty much immediately, AND be able to eat meals every day.

For mental illness, I just really think private Healthcare and insurance sucks for this. Homeless people can't afford private stuff in most cases. And that leaves them getting the least amount of help or not being able to get any—when they should be getting even more because they're in more severe situations. Point blank I think all Healthcare should be free, but even if it's not, it should at least be free below a certain income level. I mean good care. With like, options. Nobody's gonna get it if it means being locked in a hospital indefinitely especially if they have people who depend on them. If they need medication obviously that should also be free. That could especially be a reason mental illness may "cause" homelessness, because the treatment options you can afford at a low income can kinda suck or be nothing.

[JamesDiaz11]

The only way to solve homelessness is to round them up and liquidate them. There may be some cases where they can be salvaged as people, but chronically homeless people will not be able to sustain themselves for any length of time (regardless of being provided a home, a job, etc.).

They're social parasites and should be done away with.

[Agape93]

Execute the addicts, put the debilitatingly mentally ill in psychological wards, the physically infirm in cheaper housing. Or just ship them off to an uninhabited island and leave them there.

Mostly it's bad circumstances. Lost job, got addicted to their medication etc.

[BlackBeauty90]

I agree to an extent it is bad circumstances but at the same time a lot of people experience bad circumstances and they don't end up homeless.

My uncle, as example, lost his wife of 40 years to cancer a few years ago. It was terrible, the doctors fcked up on her treatment had they not she may still be alive. His job, which as an engineer is demanding, gave him a ground breaking 3 days off to grieve. ... He didn't take to booze, he didn't take to drugs.

[BlackBeauty90]

And yes job loss is terrible but there's so many jobs out there take one.

Even if someone has to bag groceries for six months when last month working in IT... it's a job.

[exitseven]

democrat leadership. People are rewarded for bad behavior. The answer to drug abuse is to have safe injection sites. It is this kind of backwards thinking that is the cause of the problem. Years ago you could not even buy a hypodermic needle without a prescription. Junkies used to make their own works out of an eye dropper.

[gorydetails]

You have to stop indulging in homelessness. Make it illegal to be homeless. Provide shelters but the people have to be drug free and weapon free. They should get the mental help they need, and drug addiction counseling, any help to find a job.

But the reality is that some people just want to be homeless.

[OddBeMe]

I don’t know. Poverty is getting horrid. But I think actual homelessness is mental illness and drugs. So single payer healthcare. Or the public option.

[Anonymous]

Mental illness. Homelessness and incarceration. Because it's just easier then treating these people.

[EaterPeter]

Army and mindset as a cause, substance abuse?